Zion - Where God Dwells with Us

 “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, When we remembered Zion.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭137‬:‭1‬ ‭KJV

This psalm was written by an unknown after Jerusalem was destroyed during the Babylonian captivity or it may be attributed to Jeremiah.  “Along the banks of Babylon’s rivers we sat as exiles, mourning our captivity, and wept with great love for Zion.”  The Jews in captivity yearned for the majestic temple that Solomon built where the Ark of the Covenant was in the Holy of Holies signifying the Presence of God.  Inspite of that, the Jews turned to false gods and even turned the temple a place of worship to idols and the Presence of God left the temple.  That is why God used Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to destroy the temple and the Jews taken into captivity.  Later, it was rebuilt and when Jesus came in the flesh, He was presented at the temple and later referred to it as His Father’s house.  During one Passover, Jesus cleansed the temple of money-changers and merchants selling sacrificial animals.  He used it as a place of teaching and once while talking to Pharisees and scribes, Jesus prophesied that the physical temple would be destroyed and that His body would be destroyed to make a new temple in three days, which will be the Presence of God.  That was fulfilled at the death and resurrection of Jesus.  When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, and disciples were filled, God’s Presence filled their bodies.  Today, all disciples who believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and invite the Holy Spirit in them, carry the Presence of God.  Paul reminds us, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”  Amen!

A Relationship with Christ Without Pretensions

 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭23‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ ‭KJV‬‬

As Matthew recorded, ““Great sorrow awaits you religious scholars and Pharisees—frauds and pretenders! For you are obsessed with peripheral issues, like insisting on paying meticulous tithes on the smallest herbs that grow in your gardens. These matters are fine, yet you ignore the most important duties of all: to walk in the love of God, to display mercy to others, and to live with integrity. Readjust your values and place first things first. What blind guides! Nitpickers! You will spoon out a gnat from your drink, yet at the same time you’ve gulped down a camel without realizing it!”  The law of Moses only obligated tithing on grain, wine and oil.  The religious scholars added to the law their interpretation, which added vegetables and herbs to their list of what should be tithed.  Justice, grace which is loving kindnesses and faith and truth is what Jesus talked about.  The Aramaic for gnat and camel is similar and gnat becomes a metaphor for what is least and insignificant - swallowing a gnat will not hurt you.  But the camel becomes a picture of self-righteousness. To swallow a camel would indeed kill you.  Let’s not focus on insignificant things in our relationship with Christ but remove the huge block of those hindrances that stop us from being effective and fruitful.  Amen!

Sound Wisdom Found in God’s Mercy Endures Forever

 “To him who alone doeth great wonders: For his mercy endureth for ever. To him that by wisdom made the heavens: For his mercy endureth for ever.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭136‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭KJV‬

This psalm is traditionally attributed to king David and was sung at the dedication of Solomon’s temple and also by the armies of king Jehoshaphat.  “Give thanks to the only miracle-working God! His tender love for us continues on forever! Give thanks to the Creator Who made the heavens with wisdom! His tender love for us continues on forever!”  It tells of our God of mercy and wisdom.  Job prophesied the secrets of the two sides of God’s sound wisdom found in His mercy and justice in creation.  It was made visible in the new creation when Christ died in the flesh and rose again - victorious over sin and death.  The secret is of God’s wisdom found in His mercy and justice by becoming sin for humanity and giving us His righteousness in exchange, reconciling us to the holy God Who is our Father.  What mercy!  What grace!  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.  Let’s give thanks to our miracle working Creator God Who in His mercy, wisdom and justice, erases our sin to make us a new creation in Christ.  Thank You, Jesus!

Change Into the Garment of Righteousness

 “And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭11‬ ‭KJV‬‬

As Matthew recorded, “Now, when the king entered the banquet hall, he looked with glee over all his guests. But then he noticed a guest who was not wearing the wedding robe provided for him.”  This was the parable of the wedding feast which Jesus gave.  This explains that God is the King Who prepares His Kingdom feast for His Son, Jesus Christ.  The servants who invited guests to the wedding are the prophets God sends to summon the people to enter into the love feast of Jesus, the wedding of the Lamb to the Bride of Christ.  Those invited to come from the streets had no opportunity to buy wedding clothes.  This wedding robe is a picture of the garment of righteousness that grace provides for us.  The man without the wedding garment had one provided, but he didn’t want to change into new clothes.  A change is necessary, for our King provides garments of white linen for us to wear, our wedding garments.  As the prophet said, “Wake up! Open your eyes! Beautiful Zion, put on your majestic strength! Jerusalem, the sacred city, put on your glory garments! Never again will the unclean enter your gates!”  As John the beloved disciple saw, “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready!”  Amen!

True Worship of the True God

 “The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭135‬:‭15‬ ‭KJV‬‬

This is a psalm written after the Babylonian exile.  “The unbelieving nations worship what they make. They worship their wealth and their work. They idolize what they own and what they do.”  Worshipping what is made by man is a deception.  True worship is of the true God, Who loves us so much that He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ to remove our sins and blessed all who believe in Him and set us free to worship Him.  Worship involves thanksgiving as a deliberate act even when we don’t “feel” like it in a challenging situation, and is about thanking God in advance, a sacrifice of thanksgiving!  With profound gratitude we lift our hands in worship making a public acknowledgment of God’s character and deeds and at times kneeling and blessing Him.  At times loudly raising our voice in loud adoration and sometimes with instruments of music; at other times boasting about our God with dancing and swaying, sometimes spontaneously making outbursts of joy with a total lack of self-consciousness.  True worship is our devotion to God based on a personal relationship with Him, loving and adoring Him.  Therefore, in view of the mercies of God, let’s present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is our true worship.  Let’s worship God with all our heart, soul and body for He alone is worthy of all our worship.  Amen!

Victory Comes After Resurrection

 “And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭21‬:‭9‬ ‭KJV‬‬

As Matthew recorded, “Jesus rode in the center of the procession—crowds going before Him and crowds coming behind Him, and they all shouted, “Bring the victory, Lord, Son of David! He is the blessed One sent from the Lord Yahweh! We celebrate with praises to God in the highest!”  This was taken from a psalm attributed to David, “Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.”  Hosanna, an Aramaic word which means “O save, bring the victory, O Lord!”  The crowds recognised Jesus as Yahweh’s Messiah.  By shouting out, “Son of David,” they were clearly expecting Jesus to immediately overthrow the Roman oppression and set the nation free.  Many want victory before the Cross, but true victory comes after resurrection!  Jesus was crucified in the flesh and when we, who are born again and new creatures in Christ, crucify our flesh, that is our old man, we become stronger and stronger. When our old man is crucified with Christ, the body of sin is destroyed, and we come out victorious. Amen!

Night Time Worship

 “Behold, bless ye the LORD, All ye servants of the LORD, Which by night stand in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the LORD. The LORD that made heaven and earth Bless thee out of Zion.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭134‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Traditionally this psalm is attributed to king David when he appointed Levites as the Ark was brought to Zion for bringing worship for the night watch duties and it is the final song of ascent.  “All His loving priests who serve and sing, come and sing your song of blessing to God. Come and stand before Him in the house of God throughout the night watch, lifting up your hands in holy worship; come and bless the Lord! May the Lord, Whom you worship, the mighty Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion’s glory!”  There is always a blessing from Yahweh when we worship by night.  Great miracles happen when we worship in the night time.  This is what happened to Paul and Silas, beaten mercilessly and imprisoned in stocks.  Yet, undaunted, they prayed in the middle of the night and sang songs of praise to God, while all the other prisoners listened to their worship.  Suddenly, a great earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. All at once every prison door flung open and the chains of all the prisoners came loose. Startled, the jailer awoke and saw every cell door standing open. Assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself when Paul shouted in the darkness, “Stop! Don’t hurt yourself. We’re all still here.” The jailer called for a light. When he saw that they were still in their cells, he rushed in and fell trembling at their feet. Then he led Paul and Silas outside and asked, “What must I do to be saved?” They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved—you and all your family.” Then they prophesied the word of the Lord over him and all his family.  The worst case scenario changes into victory when we worship and sing praises to God even at night.  Amen!

Selfless Humility

 “But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭20‬:‭25‬-‭28‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Matthew wrote, “Jesus, knowing their thoughts, called them to His side and said, “Kings and those with great authority in this world rule oppressively over their subjects, like tyrants. But this is not your calling. You will lead by a completely different model. The greatest one among you will live as the one who is called to serve others, because the greatest honor and authority is reserved for the one with the heart of a servant. For even the Son of Man did not come expecting to be served but to serve and give his life in exchange for the salvation of many.”  This happened after James and John, because of their personal ambition asked to be enthroned with Jesus on His right and left in the hereafter.  Jesus told them that self promotion and ambition for power leads to jealousy, competition and oppression, which is quite the opposite of the Kingdom of God pattern.  It is a servant’s heart that God appreciates and showed it by example.  That’s why Paul, once the Pharisee of Pharisees, said, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”  Let this same attitude be in us which was in Christ Jesus of selfless humility.  Amen!

Unity in the Body of Christ

 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭133‬:‭1‬ ‭KJV‬‬

A psalm by king David, “How truly wonderful and delightful it is to see brothers and sisters living together in sweet unity!”  Jesus prayed just before He endured the Cross, for this unity in the Body of Christ, the Church. “Holy Father, keep them safe by the power of Your Name, the Name that You gave Me, so that their unity may be like Ours.”  This is the purpose of our God that all who believe in Him will come to the unity.  We endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. God’s purpose is that we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.  Let’s enjoy this unity that God desires and be free from pride-filled opinions, for they will only harm our cherished unity.  We don’t allow self-promotion to hide in our hearts, but in authentic humility put others first and view others as more important than ourselves. Let’s put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.  This is good and pleasant for our God - let’s be happy in unity with our God.  Amen!

Be God’s Friend Rather Than His Enemy

 “The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭19‬:‭3‬-‭6‬ ‭KJV‬‬

As Moses recorded, “The Pharisees were intent on putting Jesus to the test with difficult questions, so they approached Him and asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” “Haven’t you read the Scriptures about creation?” Jesus replied. “The Creator made us male and female from the very beginning, and ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and live with his wife. And the two will become one flesh.’ From then on, they are no longer two, but united as one. So what God unites let no one divide!”  This was a clever test by the Pharisees as Jesus was in Judea and under Herod Antipas’ jurisdiction who had beheaded John for challenging his divorce. The Pharisees wanted Jesus beheaded too.  In a fallen world, divorce had been permitted by Mosaic law for adulterous immorality which breaks the bond of marriage.  Jesus reminded them the real reason for marriage as God had said at the creation of mankind even highlighting gender difference in the context of marriage.  The counterculture of the world today is against God.  Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  Let’s be a friend of God instead.  Amen!